Nissan Motor Co.’s strong quarterly earnings – and upgraded forecast for the full year – signal that its two chief Japanese rivals, Toyota and Honda, will also deliver solid numbers, industry analysts are forecasting.

Nissan delivered a 172.8 billion yen, or $1.4 billion, profits for the July-September quarter, the second in its fiscal year. That was up from 124.9 billion yen during the same period a year ago. And the maker said it expects to see a 17% increase in net income, to 535 billion yen, or $4.4 billion, for the full fiscal year ending next March.

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“We are increasing our financial forecast for the full year as our product offensive, our continued financial discipline and the ongoing benefits of our Alliance strategy is delivering better than expected results,” said CEO Carlos Ghosn.

Aided by a strong showing in North America and Western Europe, Nissan reported a 17.6% increase in profits for the fiscal year March 31.

Carlos Ghosn, the chief executive officer for Nissan and for Renault, said Nissan delivered solid full-year revenues and profits. The robust demand, especially for new products in North America and Western Europe, along with cost cutting and a favorable shift in the yen-dollar exchange rate, offset challenging market conditions in Japan and several emerging markets.

Nissan's sales jump in October was due, in part to continuing strong results of the Versa.

Nissan’s operating profit was up 22.4% during its second quarter due to strong sales in the U.S. as well as a weak yen. However, the maker cut its global sales forecast by 3.5% for the year due to weaker than expected sales in China and softness in Japan.

Nissan plans to sell 5.45 million vehicles worldwide during its financial year, which ends March 2015.

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Japan’s No. 2 automaker reported an operating profit of 139.34 billion yet ($1.2 billion), which beat analysts’ estimates. The big driver was strong sales in the U.S., which were up 13.7% during the quarter. Like most of the automakers in America, Nissan benefitted from low gas prices and a slowly recovering economy. (more…)

The Nissan Sentra has helped drive strong demand for the maker, especially in the U.S. market.

Nissan saw a big surge in earnings for the latest quarter, with analysts crediting both strong sales in China and the U.S., as well as a boost from favorable exchange rates.

The second-largest Japanese maker reported a net profit of 112 billion yen, or $1.1 billion, a 37% year-over-year increase from 82 billion. The figures far and away exceeded analysts’ consensus forecast of 85 billion yen, or $835 million, according to data gathered by FactSet.

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“Nissan continued to make progress in the first three months of the fiscal year as encouraging demand for new products, benefits from recent plant investments, and improving market conditions in North America, China and Europe combined to lift both revenues and profits,” said Nissan President and CEO Carlos Ghosn.

Surging global sales, along with a weak Japanese yen, helped Nissan Motor Co. deliver a 57% increase in profits for the final quarter of 2013.

The second-largest Japanese maker earned 84.3 billion yen, or $823 million, for the October-December quarter, up from 53.8 billion yen the year before – but a fraction of the 525.4 billion yen, or $5.2 billion, in earnings announced by the industry giant Toyota Motor Co. last weak.

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Both makers, along with Japan’s third-largest automotive manufacturer Honda, have benefited significantly from last year’s plunge in the yen which averaged around 80 to the U.S. dollar during the final months of 2013, down from around 100 a year before.

Despite posting a 2% increase in its quarterly net profit, the mood was sour at Nissan Motor Co. Friday morning as CEO Carlos Ghosn cut the Japanese maker’s forecast for the year and reshuffled its leadership team.

Among those impacted by the management reorganization, Chief Operating Officer Toshiyuki Shiga has been shuffled aside and appointed vice chairman while three other executives will now serve as co-COOs.

“Our slow performance required immediate action to be taken,” said Ghosn from Nissan’s headquarters in Yokohama. “We are really tightening. We take this very seriously.”

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The second-largest of the Japanese makers posted a 107.8 billion yen, or $1.1 billion, profit for the July – September period, the second quarter of its fiscal year. That was up just 2% from the 105.7 billion yen net posted a year earlier. Quarterly sales, however, rose 16%, to 2.5 trillion yen, or $25.4 billion.

Put on the defensive by the slow ramp-up of the maker’s battery cars, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn put on a confident face during an appearance at the New York Auto Show and promised this will be a “milestone year” for the Leaf electric vehicle.

With the maker’s second battery-car plant now operating in Smyrna, Tennessee, the executive said inventory is up and demand rapidly growing.

Ghosn, meanwhile, offered a mixed assessment of the global automotive market, pronouncing a bright outlook for the U.S. but more troubles ahead for Europe. He also offered a cautiously upbeat outlook for China.

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“This is going to be a milestone year for Leaf,” Ghosn said, maintaining the positive outlook that has positioned him as the most upbeat of the industry’s top executives when it comes to the prospects for vehicle electrification. He continues to forecast that up to 10% of the vehicles sold by decade’s end will use some sort of battery power.

Nissan Motor Co., the Japanese automaker generally credited with staging the fastest recovery from last year’s earthquake and tsunami has underscored its rapid turnaround by reporting record sales for the 2011 fiscal year.

The maker reached an all-time record selling 4.8 million vehicles in 2011, with profits for the fiscal year that ended March 31 gaining 7%, to 341.1 billion yen. But the big jump occurred during the final quarter of the 2011 fiscal year, Nissan profits more than doubling, to 75.3 billion yen, or $943 million, up from 30.8 billion yen a year ago.

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With production back to full speed after the disaster-led cuts of last year, Nissan is nothing but optimistic about the future, the maker forecasting further earnings gains on worldwide sales it expects to reach yet another record of 5.3 million for the 2012 fiscal year, which began on April 1. And it is predicting a 28% increase in earnings.

“As we start the new year, Nissan stands as a company re-tooled and ready to accelerate its growth,” said Carlos Ghosn, who serves as CEO of both Nissan and its global alliance partner Renault.

Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche promises a great year - but investors worry about a Chinese market slowdown.

Credit China. That’s the message from two major automakers as they report earnings from opposite ends of the globe. For Daimler AG, a worldwide resurgence in luxury car demand – especially in the fast-growing Chinese market helped it come in with an all-time quarterly record that was up 30% year-over-year.

The numbers weren’t nearly as good for Nissan, but that was no surprise considering the devastating hit the Japanese industry, overall, has taken since the devastating earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 20,000 on March 11 and left the industry in a shambles. If anything, the 10% decline in net income was less than many had anticipated, while revenues – also driven by China – were up markedly.

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“Our rapid recovery from the natural disasters in March once again shows the power of Nissan in responding effectively and decisively to crisis,” said Nissan President and CEO, Carlos Ghosn. “Nissan’s performance in the first quarter, despite strong headwinds such as foreign exchange and rising raw material costs, demonstrates our potential to deliver the goals of our recently announced Nissan Power 88 mid-term plan.”

Declaring it’s time for the maker to go on the offensive, “instead of restructuring,” Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has revealed his new Power 88 plan, which could put it within striking distance of the hobbled Toyota Motor Co.

The new six-year plan is the latest in a series of long-term targets laid out by Ghosn since assuming control of the then-struggling Nissan just before the turn of the Millennium. But short of the original turnaround strategy, Power 88 is arguably the most ambitious laid out by the Brazilian-born executive.

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It calls for a huge increase in Nissan’s market share, to 8% within six years, while the maker also targets an 8% profit margin. To help support its ambitious aims, Ghosn promises Nissan will significantly expand its presence in emerging markets, like China, while rolling out at least one new product, on average, every six weeks.

“This is the first time that Nissan is starting a plan on the offensive instead of reconstructing something, or defending something,” Ghosn told reporters at the maker’s new headquarters in Yokohama.